


Nightmares

by Laoness



Series: Help, my neighbour is a Sith! [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Maul being soft and comforting? it's more likely than you think, like i said it's very soft, very soft stuff here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26408329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laoness/pseuds/Laoness
Summary: It's a stormy night on Coruscant. Maul wakes up in the middle of the night, but not from his own nightmare this time...
Relationships: Darth Maul/OC, Darth Maul/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Help, my neighbour is a Sith! [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1915648
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Nightmares

Darkness. All stories somehow start with darkness. Darkness was just a very common thing on Coruscant, weather it was night or day. Depending on where you where on this planet, it was always dark. The dark gave some creatures shelter and to others it was an obstacle. It could however also make your life gloomy and frankly the lack of actual sunlight was very unhealthy. But the scientists of Coruscant always found a solution to the never-ending problems of a planet covered in buildings; like how did they produce enough oxygen? How would they keep the planet from heating up due to green house gasses and frying all its inhabitants? It hadn’t been the capital of the Old Republic – and now the Empire – for centuries for nothing. They always came with some ducttape-ish solutions to keep the planet from destroying itself. That also included ways for its citizens to get enough vitamin D through other means than natural sunlight. 

But even on Coruscant night came and at least engulfed the top levels in darkness. Natural darkness, if something like that even exists. The northern hemisphere was hit by a rather severe storm, which swept across all levels of the city. Thunder was rumbling and clouds were sucking up the high skyscrapers. The visibility was none existent, neither in a speeder nor through the windows of an apartment. Strong winds were howling in between the buildings and whipped up the rain, which was falling from the sky. The sound of the raindrops clashing against the transparisteel of the windows was loud. So loud, one might even wake up from it. 

However, that is not the reason Maul woke up in the middle of the night. He could sense fear and panic, not within himself, but it was coming from the person lying next to him. Maul opened his eyes and needed a few seconds to fully wake up. The harsh sounds of the water hitting the windows ripped him from his dream – a very strange dream, so maybe it was good he woke up. A flash of lightning lit up the room before it turned dark again. Maul, now being fully awake, stared at the ceiling and sighed softly. Just as he was about to complain to himself that he wasn’t going to be able to sleep soon, he felt some movement next to him. Slowly he sat up and looked to his left. He could only see the silhouette of the woman lying next to him.

Shir was twitching while being asleep. Her breathing was heavy, her chest moved up and down in a rapid pace. Maul could definitely hear her mumble, as if she was being chased. She kept repeating the word ‘no’ in a rather aggressive way. Sometimes she would turn to her side and roll back and forth. The zabrak could feel her uneasiness grow and decided to step in. 

“Shir.” He placed a hand on her arm. “Shir!” Gently he shook her but to no avail. “Wake up!” Now gripping her arm a little tighter and shaking her harder. “Shir, wake up!” He repeated his words until eventually she gasped and opened her eyes. Out of reflex she had grabbed his arms for… support? And was now staring into his face. Maul could still see the shock and fear in her eyes. Shir was trying to catch her breath, but whatever she was dreaming about, left her spooked. 

“You had a nightmare.” Maul’s voice was soft and strangely comforting. Shir needed another moment to overcome her disorientation after being ripped from her dream like that. She was still panting while sitting up slowly. Maul had refused to let her go, although he had loosened his grip on her. 

“Are you alright?” He asked. Shir could see the concern in his eyes. It was very rare for the zabrak to show such emotion and care towards her so openly. She had always treasured those little moments in which he expressed how much he actually cared for her. They might have been rare, but every single one was precious and just so full of… love. And the most interesting thing was, they always happened exactly when she needed them. 

Just like right now. 

Still feeling haunted by that terrible dream, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Without any words, he embraced her and held her close in his arms. One hand rested on the back of her head, his fingers slowly running through her hair. It was a very calming gesture. Shir managed to slow down her breathing as she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against his warm skin. Feeling him this close always had been comforting for some reason. Every time she was amazed how tender and soft he could be if needed. 

Maul of all people knew what it was like to have nightmares and how intense and realistic they could get. It was not a fun experience. Especially having to deal with the aftermath of it. Dreams always had some form of connection to reality. They were of course morphed into some ridiculous shape, but often enough they showed what the subconscious was trying to process. That usually included elements of real life events. Both of them had been exposed to a number of traumatic events, which they tended to shrug off as if it were nothing. No time for weakness, they told themselves. Yet in these nightly moments they showed their true colours: they too, were vulnerable. 

Shir was still enjoying the warmth of the zabrak against her body. Eventually her breathing had stabilized and she felt like herself again. Maul remained quiet, not sure what to say. But he was enjoying the physical contact, so he refused to let her go for now. Not that Shir wanted to. They remained in their current embrace for another moment, before finally, Shir released him to look into his yellow eyes. To some they might’ve been creepy how they lit up in the dark – especially with the lightning outside – but to her it was fascinating. She had always admired his eyes for reasons she couldn’t explain. 

“It was a bad one, then?” Maul didn’t need to ask her about it, he already figured. Her quiet nod confirmed his thoughts anyway. He sighed softly and removed a strain of hair from her face. “Would you perhaps like some tea?” His words were almost a whisper, so soft and tender. Shir was stunned by it for a second, before she nodded as an answer to his question. 

Maul got out of bed and while he was making some warm beverage, Shir leaned back in bed and stared out of the window. The rain was still going and so was the thunder. What a stereotypical setting for having a nightmare. It had been awhile since she had gotten a dream this bad. But this time she wasn’t alone. And at least now, she had some hope of being able to sleep again. 

Shir sat up again as she saw the zabrak returning with two cups, he handed one to her before sitting down on the bed again. “You want to talk about it?” He asked after taking a first sip. Shir didn’t answer and was still staring out of the window while holding onto her cup with two hands. It almost seemed as if she had forgotten all about it. Her silence, however, left Maul more worried than he already was. It seemed this nightmare was worse than he first imagined. 

“Shir…” He said softly and placed his hand on her thigh. “Are you… alright?” She had never heard him being more concerned than in this moment. Somehow she thought it was really sweet and it actually made her smile. Look at this sad excuse for a Sith! He actually cares about someone else beside himself. 

“I think so.” She replied in a mumble and remembered the tea in her hands. She took a sip of it and sighed softly. Carefully she leaned against him, resting her head once again on his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here.” Her words were barley audibly, but Maul could hear them, even over the loud noises of the falling rain and the rumbling thunder. 

In that moment Maul realized he had never heard anyone say those words to him. No, why would they? He never had a meaningful relationship with anyone, who would be glad to see him! That was ridiculous. And he was convinced nobody ever cared as much for him as Shir did. At the beginning of their relationship, he told himself that she was his – Sith wanted to claim things for their own. It was a decision he had made himself and no one could ever take that away from him. But now, it was starting to feel more equal. She was his and he belonged to her. It was a weird concept, something Maul still hadn’t quite come to understand yet. But just knowing that someone else genuinely cared about his wellbeing was quite amazing. In earlier years he might’ve viewed it as a weakness, but he found that it was actually giving him strength. Passion meant strength after all. 

After finishing their tea, Shir started to yawn. That was a good sign. She was still tired and there was still hope to fall asleep once more. Even Maul, with his damned insomnia, was getting tired again. Shir seemed to be doing a lot better, which he was glad about. It gave him inner rest for some reason. The two of them lied back down into bed and Shir wasted no time to immediately snuggle up to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and had one arm wrapped around his torso. Her eyes were set on his sharp jawline, which she started to trace with her index finger. Maul had closed his eyes and was showing a content smile. 

“So you still don’t want to tell me what haunted you?” He suddenly asked out of nowhere and opened his yellow eyes once more. Shir sighed softly as she put her hand on his cheek. 

“It was… someone from my past.” She eventually answered. Her hand trailed down over his unusually muscular neck and rested on his other shoulder. “He wasn’t very nice to me. Well… that’s an understatement really.” Maul could feel her starting to get uneasy again and quickly grabbed her hand. 

“Who do I need to kill?” It was actually meant as a joke, but he would totally do it if she asked him to. Shir had to just chuckle softly and intertwined her fingers with his. 

“Nah it’s okay. I did that myself.” She winked at him. “But in my dream… he had come back from the dead and found me again. And everything that had happened repeated itself. I tried to call for help but no one was listening to me. I was helpless and that is, what scared me the most.” She squeezed his hand a little. Maul felt her fear. Fear for something unreal. That man was dead and unless he had intense training in the Force – like himself – he remained dead. 

“Let me tell you from experience, coming back from the dead is extremely hard and I sincerely doubt he could pull it off, whoever he was.” If it hadn’t been for his brother and his mother, he never would’ve made that recovery and be back the way he is now. At least the Force hadn’t forgotten him and actually rewarded him for once: being in the company of this amazingly and very talented woman surely was worth all the pain and suffering. 

“You’re right, of course. Especially since I decapitated him. But tell that to my unconscious.” She chuckled. Irrational fears that were buried somewhere deep down were just fuel for nightmares and there was no way to control them. 

“I would, but I have a suspicion it’s as stubborn as you are.” He grinned. Shir just gave him an ‘oh you’ look and promptly rolled on top of him. Now that was something he didn’t see coming. 

“Nothing can beat your stubbornness.” She grinned and cupped his face. Maul looked a little shy now and he would definitely be blushing at least a little bit, if his skin wasn’t already red. He didn’t even try and defend himself. He was just glad to see her smile again after that horrible experience. 

“What can I say…” The zabrak wrapped his arms around her waist. “Cheating death takes a certain level of stubbornness.” He leaned up and pressed a soft kiss on her lips. She seemed to be surprised but returned the gesture. She even put one hand on his cheek again and let her fingers run down to his jawline. After giving him another smile, she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. 

“You’re an idiot.” She mumbled. “But I love you.”


End file.
